Friday Evening Post (March 24, 2017)

Howdy folks,

We got a whole lot of learning accomplished this week, and applied what we learned in various tasks and activities in good ol' E-8!

Writer's Workshop

This week for writers workshop we continue to apply research skills and strategies to our writing! We learned how to utilize a list to clarify a procedure or process!

We also utilize the keyword strategy to close read articles and texts in order to take notes! We then took some of those notes and transformed them into an introductory paragraph, which included a lead sentence that hooks the audience and an ending sentence (conclusion) that'll engage the reader to want to learn more about the topic!

Of course, we are still practicing the skill of revising and editing our work! One strategy that we can use is the cut and revise strategy!

Math

• We explored visual and numerical patterns and related one of the patterns to square numbers. We were introduced to why square numbers are called by that name and how visualizing the square pattern can help build understanding of multiplication facts involving square numbers! 

 

And we had to keep the pattern going after this too!

• We used base-10 ones blocks to build rectangular-based prisms and utilized multiplication in order to figure out the total number of cubes! We discussed the Associative Property and understood that the numbers can be multiplied in any order and still result in the same total amount of blocks.

How rows, How many in each row? How many layers are there?
I told the kids that when they utilized the parentheses in math,
it lets the audience know that those are the numbers
and operation they're solving first (a la PEMDAS)!

• We solved one- or two-step word problems involving multiplication, extracting information from charts, and the order of operations!

Multiply/divide first, then add/subtract! PEMDAS!

And that's a wrap-up folks! Cheers, and have a good one!

Practicing collaboration skills AND multiplication skills all at once!

Learning about the adaptations and structure of various plants in Science Lab!

Sunday Morning Edition (March 19, 2017)

Hi Folks!

A few learning points we got down with this past week:

Research-To-Write 

We've been getting some practice skills that are necessary when penning a research report/informational guidebook. One skill is finding appropriate resources.  When looking for a book or text to use as a source, we made sure that the book was a "good fit" book that we can read mostly on our own, with little support needed. Another research skill was to utilize the keyword strategy, where we read a text, and utilize keywords (words that help trigger information) to take notes in our own words.

We've also been practicing using text features, which we'll definitely need to use in our guidebooks. Why? Well, text features help clarify the information that we are sharing to our audience! One text feature we've been using is a text box. We've been using text boxes as a Words To Know box or for a Did You Know box, again, to clarify or give more info!

We've also been using the nifty text feature,  sketches and labels, again to clarify the info that we are giving to the audience!

In the upcoming week, we're going to practice using an anecdote in our non-fiction/informative writing, know how show and use a list of steps in a variety of ways, as well as using a sketch (or photo) and caption to give or clarify info for our audience! Booyah!

Math

We've been using the build-up strategy to practice our 6s multiplication facts!

"What's 6 x14? Well, I know 5 x14 is 70, so I would just need to add (build up) a row of 14 onto 70. That would equal 84, so 6 x 14 must be 84! Booyah!"

Here's an equation to represent what I just said: 6 x 14 = (5 x 14) + 14. By the way, you can use the build up strategy for any multiplication fact. Trying to figure out 3 x 16? Try 2 x 16 and then add a row of 16 to get the product of 3 x 16!

We've also begun to practice setting up and using a blank multiplication chart. I suggested to the students that they can use this tool during assessments, but it'll only work if they have the right products in the chart and if they can see patterns running throughout the chart! When setting up a multiplication chart, writing down the products of the remembered facts first is advised (you know, like your 0s, 1s, 2s, 5s, and 10s), and then fill in the remaining products using the strategies practiced in class and at home! This takes practice, and it'd be awesome if you do this with your child at home, so that he/she may be more proficient in it! You'll only need grid paper and a pencil to practice!

We're going to continue to explore multiplication patterns and strategies this week, focusing in on the associative property, as well as square numbers.

That'll do it folks! Cheers, and enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Super happy that it's Friday!

On point for St. Patty's Day!

Partaking in a Science Fair experiment!

A turtle?

An ant and wasp?

Chillin' in a field of flowers!

Super stoked aout petting a hissing cockroach!!!

Stop, collaborate, and listen!